


That Blessed Arrangement

by Tokyo_the_Glaive



Series: He Calls Me Home [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, Mistaken Identity, Multi, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-12
Updated: 2016-01-12
Packaged: 2018-05-13 08:12:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5701273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tokyo_the_Glaive/pseuds/Tokyo_the_Glaive
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Mr. Dameron?”</p>
<p>Poe whips around, nearly falling off of the ladder currently propped against his X-wing.  Finn’s in the cockpit, wiping everything down.  It’s amazing how dirty these things can get, he thinks.  He feels a thrill as he runs a cloth over the control panel, trying to get the dirt from between the buttons.  Poe’s promised to teach him how to fly one of these.</p>
<p>“Seriously?” Poe calls down. “I’m ‘Mr. Dameron’ now?”</p>
<p>Finn hears the man standing at the base of the ladder clear his throat.  “No, sir,” he says, “the other Mr. Dameron.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	That Blessed Arrangement

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dersteck](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dersteck/gifts).



“Mr. Dameron?”

Poe whips around, nearly falling off of the ladder currently propped against his X-wing.  Finn’s in the cockpit, wiping everything down.  It’s amazing how dirty these things can get, he thinks.  He feels a thrill as he runs a cloth over the control panel, trying to get the dirt from between the buttons.  Poe’s promised to teach him how to fly one of these.

“Seriously?” Poe calls down. “I’m ‘Mr. Dameron’ now?”

Finn hears the man standing at the base of the ladder clear his throat.  “No, sir,” he says, “the other Mr. Dameron.”

It goes quiet.  Finn isn’t paying much attention until he is, at which point he jolts upright and manages to hit his head against the roof of the cockpit, hard.

“Something wrong?” Finn asks, tentative.  He glances to Poe, whose face looks carefully blank.

“No,” the man says, deliberately leaving off the  _ sir _ \--Finn had made it known from the very beginning that no one was to address him like that, ever,  _ ever _ .  There was too much in that word.  He’d use it for others, sure… “There’s a call for you.”

“A call?”

“The Jedi,” the man says simply.

_ Rey _ .  Or Skywalker, but Finn finds that unlikely.  Poe and Finn switch places.  Poe braces himself on Finn’s shoulder as they make the exchange, Poe to the cockpit, Finn to the ladder, descending to solid ground.  Poe’s hands are warm from the repairs, and Finn can feel that hand for some time after he comes down.

Finn looks at the man and waits for him to lead him to wherever he’s going.  The man hesitates and stares at the X-wing.  He stares for long enough that even Poe realizes that they haven’t left and stares right back.

“Is something wrong?” Finn asks.

The man startles.  “No,” he says.  “Nothing’s wrong.”

Finn catches Poe’s eye.  Poe shrugs, gestures for Finn to go on, and goes back to his work.  Finn takes a breath and leaves the hangar.

The awkward feeling that all isn’t quite right doesn’t dissipate as they walk.  The man keeps looking curiously at Finn and then looking away as if realizing that he’s not supposed to stare.  Finn doesn’t know what to do.  He’s been told to go, so he’s going, but this guy clearly has a problem.

They’re most of the way to the holodeck by the time Finn gathers the courage to break the silence.  By that point, however, the man has, too.

“So,” he says, not looking Finn in the eyes, “you and Poe.”

“Yes?” Finn asks.

The man clears his throat.  “How long have you two been a thing?”

“Poe isn’t a thing,” Finn says.  He can feel himself flush with anger.

“No, that’s not--” The man cuts himself off and tries again: “How long have you two been  _ together _ ?”

_ What? _  Finn doesn’t know what the exaggerated emphasis on  _ together _ means, so he answers the question he thinks the man’s asking.

“I broke him out of the Starkiller and we stole a TIE ship,” Finn says, uncertain.

The man flushes.  “Right, but when did you--”

He’s cut off by the  _ whoosh _ as the doors to the holodeck slide open.  The room isn’t empty: General Organa watches a slightly glitchy, blue figure in the middle of the holotable.

“General,” the man says, stopping.  Finn keeps walking.

“Finn!” the blue figure calls.

“Rey!”  Happiness swells within Finn.  He hasn’t heard from her since she left.

General Organa stands.  “I’ll leave you two alone, then,” she says.  There’s kindness in her voice, coupled with the grief that refuses to abandon her.  Finn thanks her, and she heads to the door.

The man who escorted Finn to the holodeck is still standing there, staring at Finn.

“Did you need something?” the General asks.  Her tone is far less kind.

The man stands up straighter.  “No, General,” he says.  He all but flees.  General Organa’s departure triggers the closing of the holodeck doors, and Finn is alone with Rey.

“Finn,” she says, “I’m so glad you decided to stay with the Resistance!”

Finn scratches the back of his head.  He can’t figure out if he should stand or sit--he’s never had to appear on a hologram before.  He assumes Rey can see him--right?  He decides to mimic General Organa and picks a chair.  He has to crane his head just a little to see Rey, but he doesn’t mind.

“Nowhere else to go, really,” Finn says.  “It was an easy choice.”

It’s hard to see Rey’s face clearly when the hologram’s only so-so, but Finn thinks she’s making a face.

“Tell me everything,” she says firmly.

* * *

It’s an easier command to follow, now that he’s done it twice: first with General Organa, then with Poe.  Rey’s a good listener, even through the twitchy holotech.  She only interrupts once.

“Farming?” she asks.  “Oh, Luke told me about that!”

* * *

At the end of it, Rey has a contemplative look.

“Finn Dameron,” she says.  “I like it.”

“Yeah, well I don’t think I’ll ever get used to being called ‘Mr. Dameron’.”  Finn does his best to imitate the man’s voice, but it just comes out nasal and awkward.  It gets a laugh out of Rey anyway.

“I wonder what his problem was,” Rey says.  She’s still giggling.  “If I were there, I could tell you.”

“How’s your training going?” Finn asks eagerly.

Rey grins.  “I lifted a rock!” Finn’s not exactly sure what that means, but Rey looks excited, so he puts on his biggest grin.

“That’s awesome!” he says.  “How big was it?”

Rey makes a gesture with her hand to suggest that it was about head-sized.  Finn’s smile slips a little because he has absolutely no idea why that’s cool when he’s seen her lift much bigger things quite easily.

Rey’s smile falls, then her eyes get wide.  “Oh!” she says.  “Oh, I lifted it  _ using the Force _ !”  It clicks in Finn’s head and he laughs.  Rey laughs, too.

“I thought--”

“You thought I couldn’t lift a--”

“I knew you could lift it!” Finn protests.  “I just didn’t know why you were so excited.”

“ _ Finn Dameron _ \--”

* * *

They go back and forth like that for a while.  Finn’s already told her everything, but Rey’s been busy ever since she found Skywalker.  She’s learning a lot of new things--not all of them Jedi-related, either.

“Chewbacca’s a good cook?” Finn asks at one point.

Rey gestures broadly.  The smile that so far hasn’t left her face only widens.

“ _ The best _ ,” she says.  “There are so many things he knows how to make!  R2-D2 has recipes stored that we haven’t even tried yet.”

She goes on to describe a bunch of dishes that Finn’s never heard of, but they make his stomach rumble.  Rey laughs and badgers him to ask Poe how to cook.

“It doesn’t look hard,” Rey says.  “Chewbacca hasn’t let me try much, but it seems pretty simple.”

“You didn’t cook for yourself on Jakku?” Finn asks.  The question is out of his mouth before he can second-guess it.

A shadow of something flies across Rey’s face.  “Not really,” she admits, “no.”

* * *

Not long after, Rey’s attention is caught by something off of the hologram.

“I have to go,” she says, “Luke says it’s time to start training again.”

“At least he gives you breaks,” Finn says.  “I was worried you wouldn’t sleep.”  Stormtrooper training regularly involved sleep deprivation and several days with no pause in active combat training, amongst other things.  Though he hasn’t seen any evidence of either one on D’Qar so far, Finn hadn’t been sure those were normal practices or not.

Rey just laughs.  “Like you’re working so hard,” she says.

“I’m the best shot the Resistance has,” Finn protests.  The thought still sits poorly in his stomach, but Rey just claps and grins.

“I knew it,” she said.  “I really have to go, but I miss you.”

Something aches in Finn’s chest.  “I miss you, too,” he says.  “Take care.  Don’t get cut in two by that lightsabre or whatever.”

“Don’t shoot yourself in the foot,” Rey says.  “I’ll try to call again, maybe in a few days.”

“I’ll bring Poe next time,” Finn says.  “He’d like to say hello, probably.”

There’s something in Rey’s eyes.  “Of course,” she says.  “Tell him I said hi.  Next time, I’ll ask for him, too.”

Then Rey’s gone, leaving Finn with a warm holotable and a grin that won’t go away.  He’d missed Rey.

* * *

Poe’s right where Finn left him, working on his X-wing.  As Finn approaches the ship, he hears BB-8 beeping, but with the echo in the hangar, Finn can’t quite tell what the little droid’s trying to say.

When he catches sight of him, Poe grins down at him from the cockpit.  Finn has that feeling in his chest again.  He can’t work out what it is, but it’s warm and it feels like home.

“How’s the Jedi?” Poe asks.

“She says hi,” Finn replies.  “Come down here.”

Poe arches an eyebrow and pulls a face.  Finn’s about to say something else, but Poe has both hands braced on the edge of the cockpit.  His shoulders are tense, and his mouth is set.  All at once, Poe launches himself out of the X-wing.  He twists in the air, and Finn’s stomach flips until he registers that Poe has landed safely on his feet.  The pilot has the audacity to grin at him.

“What was that for?” Finn says.  He doesn’t yell--he’s not confident enough in anything for that, so it’s barely louder than his speaking voice--but he can tell that Poe understands the severity of the situation.  “You could have-- You could have gotten killed doing that?”

Poe shakes his head and  _ laughs _ .  “Oh, Finn,” he says.  “Come on, tell me about Rey.”  He slings an arm around Finn’s shoulders, and  _ okay _ , that about makes up for the shock.  Still, Finn glances at the X-wing and wonders what  _ that _ was all about.

“Sure,” Finn says, somewhat distracted.  “Sure.”

* * *

“She wants to see  _ me _ ?”

Somehow, that’s more unbelieveable to Poe than anything else.  Finn nods quickly.  They’re in Poe’s room--there are pieces of Poe’s flight uniforms scattered about amidst regular clothes and all the rest.  First Order regulations would have never permitted such a mess.  Finn loves it.  Poe has made him coffee, and he loves that, too.

“She said she missed you,” Finn says.  He can’t remember now if Rey actually said so or not, but he thinks she probably did, or meant to.  Either way, Finn has said it, and it seems right.

Poe makes a soft sound and smiles.  “Don’t worry,” he says, “I won’t steal your girl.”

_ What? _

“Okay,” Finn says, uncertain.  “I don’t think Rey belongs to anyone, and anyway, I wouldn’t--”

Poe puts his hands up.  “No, that’s not--”  He runs a hand through his hair, and Finn’s completely distracted.  Finn has never grown his own hair out, but he knows enough just by looking at the little hair he does have to know that it wouldn’t look like Poe’s.  Poe’s hair flops when he flicks his head just so and it blows in the breeze and looks incredibly soft.  Finn’s not envious, but he’s struck with the thought that he’d like to touch it.

“I mean,” Poe says, “you two are a thing, right?”

There’s that word again.  “What does that mean?” Finn asks.

Poe’s face is--what, exactly? Finn’s not sure, but he doesn’t like it.  If he had to describe it, Finn would say that it looked like Poe had been forced to swallow something rotten.

“If two or more people are a  _ thing _ , it means they’re together,” Poe says.

There’s that other word.  “I’m still confused,” Finn admits.

“You’re dating, seeing each other, in a relationship, romantically involved--”

Finn’s eyes go wide.  “What?” he asks.  This time, he near-shouts.  Poe physically jolts, and Finn feels a bolt of guilt run through him.  “Sorry,” he says, swallowing, “I’m sorry--”

Poe puts up his hands. “No, it’s fine,” he says, “I just wasn’t expecting that, is all.”

“We’re not,” Finn starts.  He doesn’t know where he’s going with it, so he just repeats, “We’re not.”

There’s something lurking in Poe’s expression that Finn’s not exactly comfortable with, but Poe just says, “Okay.”

It’s quiet, for a moment, before Finn remembers.  “The man who picked me up thought we were together.”

“You and Rey?”

“No,” Finn says.  “You and me.”

Poe chokes on his coffee, and Finn jumps to his feet.

“M’fine, I’m fine,” Poe says.  He curses when he coughs again, hot coffee spilling on his shirt.  Finn helps him get out of it and Poe stands and makes to brush off his pants.  Finn’s distracted--he’s  _ always _ distracted by Poe--by the way Poe’s muscles move under his skin.  Poe smiles sheepishly at Finn and apologizes as he grabs a shirt from the floor.  He slides it over his head, and Finn might not know a lot of things, but he does know that he’s got a damn good view for the moment.

His eyes snap back to Poe’s when he sits down.  Finn, slowly retakes his own seat.

“Sorry,” Poe says again, “I should have warned you.”  Finn half believes that Poe’s torso is meant to come with a warning, but then Poe says, “It’s the name.  I should have known.”

“What?”

Poe smiles.  There’s something not quite right--this conversation isn’t quite right--and Finn thinks he would fight a First Order squadron to figure out what’s wrong.

“They think we’re married,” Poe says.

“Married?” Finn asks.  “What does  _ that _ mean?”

Poe’s smile is gone in an instant.

“Well, it’s kind of like the next step in a relationship,” Poe says slowly.  “If the people in a relationship care for each other tremendously, they tend to get married.  There’s a ceremony where all of the people involved pledge their loyalty and love to each other for the rest of their lives.”

“What does that have to do with names?” Finn asks.  He knows he shouldn’t interrupt, but he doesn’t have a clear picture of what this “marrying” business has to do with anything.

“When people get married, they tend to all adopt the same last name,” Poe says.

“Oh,” Finn says, then  _ oh _ .  He thinks about it for a moment.  He feels like he’d remember a ceremony, but maybe it’s subtle? And what are the parameters on a relationship, what does that  _ mean _ ?

Finally, because Poe’s looking at him with that peculiar expression, Finn asks, “Are we married?”

“No,” Poe says quickly, “we’re not.  People might assume we are, but. No.”

“Right,” Finn says.  “Right.”  An awkward silence falls, and Finn swallows a sip of cold coffee.  It’s not nearly as good as it was hot, but Finn still finds it tasty.  “Anyway, Rey wanted to say hi.”

“Right,” Poe echoes.  “Well, I’ll be sure to come with you to talk to her next time.”

* * *

Finn excuses himself after another few moments.  He says he’s tired, which is true: it’s been a very long day.  While he tells Poe he’s going to his room, he actually starts roaming the base.  They’re going to move soon, Finn knows, but he’s not quite sure where yet.  He’ll have to learn an entirely new place.

He pushes that out of his mind because he needs help.  There’s something--he can’t ask Poe.  He’d ask Rey if he could, but she’s not here, and besides that… No.  Finn’s got just one person in mind.

* * *

“You do realize,” General Organa says, “that it’s relatively uncommon for the General to pay so much attention to a single fighter.”

Finn bows his head.  He knows it all too well.  Every cell in his body is screaming at him to turn around and walk the other way.  He’d never do this to General Hux--he wouldn’t even go to  _ Phasma _ like this.  Stormtroopers are taught to be resourceful on their own and to ask for help only when necessary.

“Sorry, General,” Finn murmurs.  He bows his head.  “It’s just…”

General Organa arches a brow.  The other she’d been speaking to, a colonel, nods once and leaves.

“What is it?” the General demands.

“I need information,” Finn says.  “I just-- I don’t know anyone else, so I--”

“It’s fine,” the General insists.  “What kind of information?”

Finn bites his lip and tells her: “I want to know what it means to marry someone.”  General Organa blinks once, then twice.  “Well-- That is-- Poe said people are going to make assumptions so I figured--”

“Well,” she says, holding a hand to stop him, “it’s probably better that you came to me.  Someone else might have played a practical joke thinking it funny.  Or, they’d have been confused...”  Finn tilts his head.  “Never mind me.  I figured neither of you had been thinking when you took the surname Dameron, but I hadn’t known that you didn’t…”  The General smiles.  For once, she doesn’t look miserable.  Finn can see a younger woman in her smile.

“Come on, then,” she says.  “I’m sure we have something decent laying around.”


End file.
